by Cody Bashore, NAU Athletic Communications
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 9, 2021) – After trailing by as much as 22 in the second half, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks made sure the Idaho State Bengals earned their victory Saturday afternoon.
Beginning a 12-2 run on Emily Rodabaugh’s layup with 8:08 left in the game, the Lumberjacks then forced a pair of turnovers while the Bengals missed four consecutive shots from the field. After JJ Nakai (Navajo) connected on a pair of free throws, Nyah Moran drilled her third three-pointer of the day and Miki’ala Maio hit a fastbreak jumper all within about a minute on the court.
A steal by Moran set up another layup for Rodabaugh, who finished the shot through contact and put in the resulting free throw.
Suddenly trailing by just five with 4:54 left, the Lumberjacks had the opportunity to cut the deficit to one possession after a pair of missed free throws. However, a missed three-pointer and just three points across the final stretch led to a 78-65 loss. Now 5-5 overall, the Lumberjacks return to Flagstaff 3-3 in the Big Sky Conference while the Bengals improved to 8-1, 6-0 in the conference.
“They never gave up and that’s what you ask of them, to fight all the way to the end no matter what,” said NAU head coach Loree Payne. “They did a really good job of just taking it a possession at a time, but we can’t give up 46 points in the first half. Defensively, we had a lot of miscues and it was frustrating because we had worked on that in the day in between”
Shooting 66.7 percent in the fourth quarter, and 58.3 percent across the entire second half, the Lumberjacks bounced back after a disastrous start. Hitting just 28.6 percent in the first 20 minutes of the game, NAU entered the break trailing 46-28.
Taking advantage of NAU’s struggles, Idaho State seemingly couldn’t miss in its home gym. Shooting a blistering 72.7 percent in the second quarter alone, the Bengals entered halftime in complete control thanks to a 20-11 rebounding advantage and a 22-10 edge in the paint.
“I just didn’t feel like we had a great flow on offense in that first half. ISU is a really good team and they are great defensively,” Payne said. “We, I think, got so honed in on taking the first quick shot available that we didn’t make them have to play defense.”
The Bengals took their largest lead of the game, 54-32, at the 7:09 mark of the third quarter thanks to an 8-0 run that included a basket apiece for Diaba Konate, Estefania Ors, Dora Goles and Callie Bourne.
Looking to respond and avoid too deep of a hole entering the fourth, the Lumberjacks countered with an 8-0 run across a two-minute stretch. Maio connected on back-to-back baskets, followed by two straight for Regan Schenck.
With NAU still trailing by 14 as the final quarter began, Nyah Moran grabbed a defensive rebound and then put in a floater on the offensive end. The freshman, who finished with 11 points, grabbed two more rebounds in the fourth while also coming up with an assist and later a steal that led to a layup.
“Nyah hit some big shots down the stretch and she was part of the reason why we were able to come back and make that big run,” Payne said. “For her, she’s just going to continue to get more and more consistent and that’s what we are asking of our current starters right now is just consistency.”
Three others finished in double-digits, with Nakai leading the way with 14 points in addition to two rebounds and three assists, followed by Schenck’s 12 points and Rodabaugh with 11.
